How do you wear your hair on vacation? I’ve taken a good amount of trips in the past 5+ years and protective styles for vacation have been the best option. As a natural, finding the best vacation hairstyle is important as it correlates with the various activities on the itinerary and what hair products or hair tools to pack. If you’re looking for suggestions for protective styles for the beach, your next family trip, foodie adventure or historical tour, here are seven vacation hairstyles for black women with relaxed or natural hair.
Box Braids
Box braids are a great protective style for vacation because they’re easy to manage. You can use box braids to create other hairstyles and you still have the ability to cleanse and oil your scalp. If you are getting your braids done by a professional, make sure they are not braiding too tight. Save your edges girl! If you plan to do water activities, box braids can weigh your hair down and take a long time to dry.
Crochet Braids
Crochet braids are hands down one of my favorite hairstyles for a Caribbean vacation. The best part about crochet braids is the ability to get them in different curls, braids, twists, and loc patterns. You can purchase a curly pattern like the FreeTress Bohemian or Brazilian braid hair or Sensationnel Aruba Wave crochet hair as I wore on my birthday trip to Turks and Caicos. Installation of crochet braids is usually under three hours and drying time after washing or swimming is quick.
Check out my full review of the Sensationnel Aruba Wave Crochet hair below
Faux Locs
Going on a month-long trip or want locs without the commitment? Consider getting faux locs. Faux locs are a great protective style for the beach, long-term backpacking, or round-the-world trips. Faux locs are one of the best vacation hairstyles for black women because they’re easy to maintain and look better as time goes by. If you to save money, check out faux locs tutorials on YouTube because faux locs are pretty expensive when done professionally. They also take a very long time to finish depending on the method used by the stylist. The end results, however, are beautiful.
Weaves or Sew-Ins
Other hairstyles for black women with relaxed and natural hair are weaves or sew-ins. These styles give the ability to rock everyday hairstyles while protecting your own hair. To wear a high ponytail or buns, consider getting a vixen sew-in. If you plan on getting your hair wet I’d advise using human hair and making sure your scalp is fully dry to avoid mold buildup.
Twists, Braids or Buns on your Hair
If your not a fan of adding synthetic or human hair on your head because of cost, time or other reasons, you can always rock your natural or relaxed hair. You can make easy vacation hairstyles by braiding your hair in cornrows, halo twists, two-strand or mini twists, high or low buns or braids. The options are limitless. When styling with twists or braids, you can rock a puff, braid-out or twist out towards the end of your trip.
Wigs
One of the easiest vacation hairstyles is a wig as they are literally instant hairstyles. You can opt for a kinky-curly full wig like Sensationnel’s Curls Kinks and Co wigs for naturals or blown-out like my favorite Outre Annie half wig. If you plan on wearing wigs as a protective style for the beach or Caribbean vacation be prepared to sweat a little more.
Head Wraps
The last vacation hairstyle I suggest is not a style but is wearing a headwrap. You can use an existing light scarf regularly worn during the spring or fall months or run to a local fabric store to purchase material that will work well with existing outfits. Headwraps can come in handy when traveling to conservative countries that require covering your head. You can also wear them as headbands or bows.
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Thanks for sharing. I have struggled with this up until recently I was going away for two weeks and decided that best hairstyle was to put my hair in box braids. This means I didn’t need to pack the extra hair products, heat tools, etc. Saved me a bunch of luggage space.
I love protective styles like box braids or twists for that exact reason. I don’t want to worry about doing my hair if I’m trying to enjoy the trip.
Thanks for sharing this amazing post!
Wash & Gos are my go-to. I can’t wait until my hair is long enough to wear two braids going back.
I love wash and go’s in the summer! I stopped using gel and use a butter instead. It’s great for beach vacations too
Rocking a shaved haircut makes travel and adventure really easy for me. For my daughter I put her natural hair in box braids with no extra hair. That is the best for travel for her.
Yes, box braids work well. I can’t wait to try a shaved haircut one day. Need to build up the courage.
Great hair styles! I like protective styles while I am on vacation because I dont like having to worry about my hair or making sure I have all the products with me! So I usually opt for braids!
These are great styles. When I go on vacation I usually do a nice curly sew-in. I did senegalese twists one time, but braids aren’t for me.
I have the hair, but I really want to try a sew in. I’ve never done one before.
Braids have def always been my go-to ever since I was a kid. I went swimming a lot so pretty much wore conrows all summer long. Loved it.
Thank you for sharing these beautiful styles. Since growing my locs I never need to worry about protecting my hair. These are all great ideas and I have used them in the past, and that really help you keep together when at the pool and beach.
I know people that have put braids over their locs to switch it up. I love the way my friend does up-dos with her sisterlocs.